​Winter Harbor
 
Fuel, protected anchorage and dock.  Cabins along a boardwalk. Small store with limited provisions. 
 
Coal Harbor
 
Up Quatsino Sound, small public dock.  You can take a 20 minute bus to Port Hardy if you need to re-provision at a large grocery store.
 
Klaskish & Klaskino
 
Amazing, quiet anchorages tucked away in the lush area north of Brooks Peninsula.
 
Columbia Cove
 
Anchor here after rounding Brooks, one of the best white sand beaches on the West Coast is a short hike through the woods. 
 
Bunsby Islands
 
Days worth of exploring by dinghy or kayak!  Numerous small, white sand beaches, tons of sea glass and beach combing, good fishing.  Do not miss this place!
 
Kyuquot/Walter’s Cove
 
Small fishing village with a public dock, small store and water.  Java the Hut café is a small restaurant within walking distance.
 
Rugged Point
 
Nice anchorange in settled weather or a Southerly.  Short hike to great beaches on the coast.
 
Nuchatlitz
 
Very well protected anchorage, gorgeous location.  Great exploring by dinghy or kayak to small islands and bays.
 
Tahsis
 
Westview Marina has fuel, laundry, showers, restaurant/bar with live music on some nights.  Borrow their loaner car to go to the small grocery store and hardware store nearby. 
 
Hesquiat & Cougar Annie’s Garden
 
Great anchorage in Boat Basin.  Coordinate ahead via email with Peter Buckland to visit Cougar Annie’s Garden.  Do not miss this amazing place!
 
Hot Springs Cove
 
Public dock or anchor out.  Go to the hotsprings in the morning or in the evening after tourists have left.  Take tools and carve your boat name on the boardwalk.  Beautiful spot!
 
Megin River & Bachante Bay
 
Day anchorage or overnight in settled weather at Megin River.  Kayak or paddleboard up the river and float back down!  Protected, quiet anchorage at Bachante Bay very close to Megin River.
 
Tofino
 
Great town, lots of good restaurants and beaches you can bus to with surfing lessons available.  Tofino Brewing, the Ice House and Wolf in the Fog are great spots! Fully stocked grocery store-no fee to deliver groceries to boat.  Beware of current and shallows as approaching town.
 
Ucluelet
 
Excellent harbor with short walk to grocery, liquor stores and restaurants.  Good fuel dock.  Fully stocked grocery store- fee to deliver groceries to boat.
 
Barkley Sound
 
Endless great anchorages and beach exploring.  Favorite spots: Lucky Creek, Turret Island area and beaches, Hand Island, Robber’s Passage and Wouwer Island.
 
Bamfield
 
Small provisioning store and restaurants, laundry and fuel.

 

A few photos from Sloop Tavern Yacht Club's Race Your House, one of our favorite events of the year. VELELLA first in class, second overall of 47 boats!

VELELLA at Race Your House - October, 2017. Photo by Mark Aberle. 

See a great article in the January issue of Sailing World magazine about Sloop Tavern's Race Your House by our friend Andy Cross: ​http://www.sailingworld.com/house-wins?src=SOC&dom=fb

At the finish of Race Your House 2016, photo Mark Aberle

I built up a couple handline rigs this fall for some friends and customers who were heading south to Mexico and points beyond. In contrast to a rod with a reel and lightweight line, the handline is a dead simple setup that allows you to land a fish quickly and easily. With a handline, you don't have to stop the boat to land the fish which is a major benefit.

First step is attaching the hook with a crimp to a 6 foot section of mono "leader" and threading the skirt over the line. 

Next step is attaching a swivel to the other end of the 6 foot leader. 

Next, measure out about 200 feet of tuna leader and attach the end to the swivel on the leader. A figure eight knot works well, although I'm sure a tuna fisherman has a better solution!

Leaving 3-4 feet of slack at the boat end of the tuna leader, terminate the line with a bowline at the snubber. Leave some slack in the leader and tie another bowline at the other end of the snubber. The snubber will absorb the shock when a big fish hits! Tie a loop in the end of the line for attachment to a mooring cleat, stanchion base or other fixed point on the boat.

Be prepared for the big one! Normally a decent sized fish will pop up on the surface and drag behind the boat, putting up very little fight. Just pull it in! If the leader is vertical to the surface, you have a big fish on! A gaff is an excellent tool if your boat doesn't have a good swimstep!

What a great sail! We left Barkley Sound early in the morning for the 80 mile sail down the straits to Becher Bay. The breeze eventually filled in from the West and we had great sailing with reefed main and poled out jib in 25-35 knots. A bit creepy as the fog blew in and we blasted forwards at 8-9 knots but fun nonetheless. 

Sunset over a foggy Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Olympic Peninsula in the background. 

Our friends on Yahtzee snapped this shot of us heading towards Race Rocks. This was the start of an epic day of sailing that ended with a spinnaker run across Haro Strait and sailing right through Mosquito Pass to the Seattle Yacht Club outstation at Henry Island. 

Anchored off the south side of Jones. A few days in the San Juans was just what we needed before heading back to Seattle. 

The sunset from Meares Island was one of the best we had all summer. The next day we headed to Tofino, one of our favorite places on earth, where we had great beer at Tofino Brewing and indulged ourselves in a couple great restaurant meals. Do not miss Wolf in the Fog if you stop through!

After a couple relaxing days in town, we headed down the coast to Ucluelet. We had been chasing our friends on Yahtzee all summer and low and behold, there they were at the dock right across from us when we pulled into the marina. Thus began two fun weeks of buddy boating with Andy, Jill, Porter and Magnus. This was a fun change of pace from the rest of the trip and we had a blast exploring beaches, paddling and salmon fishing. 

Barkley Sound is the sort of place that makes you just want to build a bonfire on the beach in the pouring rain, drinking beer and eating fresh oysters.